You have to remember that the US is big so developers got away with making cities and towns big and sprawling and car-dependent.

ETA: Makeshift temporary memorials are in the Midwest, yes; I grew up there and remember seeing them. But they don't do the permanent crosses that you'll see here. Usually metal and meant to be permanent.

About food/cooking. I teach in a Title I school - so very low socio/eco level. There is 1 grocery store within a mile, no sidewalks and they have to walk along a 5 lane 45 - 55 MPH FM road to get to that one (over priced food because they know the neighborhood is trapped). The 3 apartment complexes a majority of our kids live in are slum lord with a large gang/drug dealer presence. We can't use out stove because it catches the kitchen on fire - is not an infrequent comment (yes we do file complaints with the appropriate people.) At least 2 times I've restrained students from running into a burning unit because we went out for recess and found their apartment/the one next to it was on fire (both times the family escaped unharmed but lost what little they had). I've done home visits were I thought I was going to fall through the floor to the apartment below.

Many of our kids get 2 meals a day at school, and several hundred get Lunches of Love bags for meals on weekends. For longer holidays LOL comes to the school once a day to deliver a bagged lunch and breakfast each day. The kids meet the van in the school parking lot. Because the food has to be shelf stable it is processed not fresh.

For some it is generational poverty. But for many I hear we had a nice apartment (or even a house) until Mom/Dad - (got hurt at work, had an heart attack, got cancer, other medical crisis) now we don't have anything.

And of course when Walmart tries to move into an area that only has those expensive convenience shops, the city changes its laws to keep Walmart out/force it to pay more than those workers are worth to it, because it pays minimum wage, so people are stuck buying expensive groceries.

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And of course when Walmart tries to move into an area that only has those expensive convenience shops, the city changes its laws to keep Walmart out/force it to pay more than those workers are worth to it, because it pays minimum wage, so people are stuck buying expensive groceries.

Not here! Walmart pays above minimun and has many longtime permanent employees. They are really kind and hardworking. I am often shocked at the hatred of Walmart I read about. We only have one other far more expensive full service grocery store in town and three convenience stores at gas stations.

1. "Quality of Chocolates": I'd urge anyone NOT to buy Hershey chocolate. Yes, we have great chocolate here. It's just usually sold at chocolate/candy stores, and is usually quite expensive. *resists urge to go down to the local chocolate store and buy a pound of fudge*

2. "Monotonous Cities, cookie-cutter homes": The cities are not monotonous. To me, Boston looks nothing like NYC, San Francisco, or Chicago. I guess if you aren't from around here, then they could all look the same...I suppose. Also, the homes...again, it depends where you go. Where I live, we have a large variety of styles of homes.

Yes, it's hard to say that X is the same everywhere in the US. Things are so widely varied from city to city and state to state. For instance, I've never lived in a place where there weren't sidewalks, though that seems to be a thing for a lot of US residents here. And not every place has a poverty-stricken inner city without access to grocery stores.

This item made me laugh because the person that mention it said they lived in Seattle. IME, Seattle is the hardest city on jaywalking in the US. They still write out hundreds of tickets for it each year. I don't think this is true of any other US city. (Jaywalking still isn't a good idea for the most part, though)

You think it starts with parents? I learned to cook from my parents as it meant they could have the help if myself and my sisters or even have me making the meals myself.

I think all children need to learn how to cook before they leave home. And how to do laundry.

If you come from a very poor background you may well have been living with no working fridge or freezer (or it is a dorm fridge or maybe barely works) and maybe one burner on the stove. Slumlords still exist and they will resist fixing appliances. And if you complain too much you get evicted and have to find another place to live as cheaply.

GlitterisMyDrug you must live in the Southwest ; the roadside cross memorials are mainly found there. (Also Central and South America- kids didn't believe me when I described them after coming back from Venezuela as a kid).

We see them here in CO too, although if too much stuff is left at the memorial I think the loacal roads authority takes it down after a time. But sometimes the crosses remain for quite some time.

And in South Dakota, there are signs put up for road fatalities (I think I was once told that they're paid for by an insurance company?) that says "Think!" On one side and "Why die?" On the other.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

Our food portion size shocks me, too, and I live here. The unfortunate thing is that at least half of those foods are things that don't reheat well, so it's either eat it all, share it, or let half go to waste.

For the record, I started learning to cook when I was 9 years old.

In NYC there are also more single-person households than anywhere else. It's harder to prepare food from scratch because of the smaller quantities and relatively small refrigerators in NYC apartments. In the winter I often prepare vats of soup from scratch, but end up getting tired of it easily. I should find a cooking meetup where people do exchanges.

I once met a Mexican singer who said he loved coming to NYC because of how the neighborhoods change every 10 blocks or so. I wonder whether other cities are like that.

GlitterisMyDrug you must live in the Southwest ; the roadside cross memorials are mainly found there. (Also Central and South America- kids didn't believe me when I described them after coming back from Venezuela as a kid).

We see them plenty here in the Midwest. Crosses, artificial flowers, balloons, etc. It can be a sensitive issue as the city/county/state must decide how long to leave the memorial up.

I've seen them all over the US.

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

GlitterisMyDrug you must live in the Southwest ; the roadside cross memorials are mainly found there. (Also Central and South America- kids didn't believe me when I described them after coming back from Venezuela as a kid).

We see them plenty here in the Midwest. Crosses, artificial flowers, balloons, etc. It can be a sensitive issue as the city/county/state must decide how long to leave the memorial up.

I've seen them all over the US.

I haven't seen permanent markers of the type the PP mentioned, though, aside from the signs in South Dakota.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

I'm an American living in Europe and it's always fascinating to be having an ordinary conversation with my European friends and to find that something in my life that is very typical is unusual or unheard of to them. I can't really think of a good example offhand but I think the one that comes up the most often is that my husband has a concealed carry handgun license and has firearms, but he's not either a police officer or a Mafia criminal They are truly baffled that an ordinary person who is not a criminal has firearms.

I understand why an ordinary person might own firearms. I cannot fathom why anyone who is not in the military or law enforcement would need to carry, let alone carry concealed.

I was surprised that several people said they found it unusual to build a house out of wood--someone from I think Germany said that there, you only build a wooden house if you're poor or making an environmental statement. What other material do people use? Steel and concrete would be typical here for, say, a skyscraper, but do people use that for ordinary homes in other areas? Another person made the point that sound travels through wooden houses, which is a peeve of mine, so I want to know how I can build a house that's quieter!

You're not required to eat the whole thing right there in the restaurant.

That's another thing that boggled a brain or two, that you can get part of your meal wrapped to go home with you. On the other hand, my brain is slightly boggled that other countries don't do that. Sure, the portions are much smaller, but what if you aren't feeling well or the appetizer was more filling than you expected?

Car buying. Australians seem to be the most surprised at how hard it can be to buy a car. In the US, laws are set by the individual states, but Registration includes some insurance. So, in Australia there is a traveler's market in used cars. You just buy one from someone who is finishing a trip, take care of minor paperwork and you are on your way. In the US, each time a car changes hands, it must be registered anew. You have to produce an address in the state where you want to register it. Some states require you to prove you live there, say, with an electric bill in your name. Some states have ID requirements that are impossible for most non-residents to fulfill. Then there's having to get the mandatory insurance.

Hmm. Its not quite that simple in Australia - every vehicle is registered to an owner, and there's got to be at least a mailing address. Also, we have mandatory insurance too - in my state its called a Green Slip, and it covers third party injury but not third party property damage.Whether tourists here simply don't bother and don't get caught, I don't know. I mean, technically nothing is stopping you from buying a car privately at a backpacker market and just don't completing the paperwork. If the registered owner is no longer in the country nothing will likely come back to them over it - especially if they can prove that the car was sold.